


Autoclave

by Constance_Lirit



Series: Julia Smith [3]
Category: Rick and Morty
Genre: Citadel of Ricks, Dinosaur - Freeform, Gen, Moving House, Music, Nonsense, OC, Original Character - Freeform, Original Female Character - Freeform, Rick-a-saurus Rex, Singing, jerry convention, rick convention
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-20
Updated: 2018-03-20
Packaged: 2019-04-05 06:21:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,748
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14038080
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Constance_Lirit/pseuds/Constance_Lirit
Summary: Just an introduction to Julia and her family moving from their home to a place designed by the Citadel of Ricks.





	Autoclave

All was quiet in the Smith’s family home at six in the afternoon; Rick and Morty were presumably on another adventure, Beth was out making her marriage work with Jerry (who had only recently returned to the family home after a quicky divorce), and Summer was out having a sleep over with her friends; leaving Julia alone in the house for the entire weekend. What she would do first with this alone time she was not entirely certain of, but after careful consideration she decided to finally change the colour of her fringe again. While she liked having a green bang over her right eye she felt it was time for something different, and she knew exactly what colour to go for, purple.  
Beth would have normally stopped her the second she heard the bottle rattling as she mixed the chemicals together but with her step-mother nowhere to be seen she could hardly complain. Once the process of bleaching and dyeing was complete Julia stood in the dining room with a satisfied look on her face, however that slowly dissipated as she began to realise she now had to decide what to do next.  
“Guess I’ll try on that outfit Summer had me buy...” she murmured, wandering into her room to pull out a black and grey plaid mini-skirt. An article of clothing that emphasised more on ‘mini’ and less on ‘skirt’. Once she had slipped it on she then retrieved a white, short-sleeved t-shirt that had built in chest support so that she did not need to wear a bra.

When she had been talked into buying the outfit Summer had been trying to shock Beth by wearing the smuttiest clothes she could find, and Julia could not help but join in. Summer won the competition in the end though, as she had managed to find short-shorts that let the lower half of her bum stick out and a daisy-duke style shirt to match. The only thing that made that situation worse was when Summer realised Julia’s breasts were much larger than hers, which seemed to trigger her into yet another rant about Tricia Lange and her ex, Ethan. Sufficed to say that was probably the main reason Summer was off staying with friends for the weekend. Trying not to think about it Julia wandered into the living room and sat down on the sofa, her legs swinging up and then back down as she got comfy across all three cushions.

Reaching for the remote she turned on the television and began watching some inter-dimensional television, flicking from channel to channel the teen soon paused when she came across a show much like Jerry Springer, only hosted by aliens.  
“Oh wow.” she commented, turning up the volume to see what it was.  
“You got my pregnant and *^&*ed off to Neptune!” the much larger alien screeched, who was presumably the female.  
“Can you blame me?” the male answered, which only made the female’s new mate get up and try to attack him.  
“Yurm, Tyup-yup! We aren’t getting anywhere if you fight like this.” the host protested from his own chair.  
A good hour later Julia was sitting upright and shouting at the screen.  
“He’s the father!” she guessed.  
“He is not the father!” the presenter revealed, to which she let out a bemused ‘noooo!’  
“Oh my god!” Julia fumed, her face churning into a scowl.  
“That’s all we have time for today, tune in tomorrow to meet our next two guests!” he bid the viewers farewell as the brunette finally turned the television off.

Looking at the time Julia went into the kitchen and pulled out the bottom drawer on the fridge, her hands pulling out an entire head of lettuce before she shut the fridge with her hips and headed towards her bedroom.  
“Tuuuuufts, dinner time!” she cheerfully sang as she entered her bedroom and shut the door tightly. Coming over to the bed Julia poked and prodded the purple, sausage shaped pillow laying there, which eventually began to shift and twitch until a pair of eyes and a small nose began to appear from underneath. “Wakey wakey.” she greeted her secret pet, while it stretched all six of its deer-like legs and yawned. “Rick’s not home so you can stretch your legs for a bit after you’ve ate.” she informed the alien creature, its long fluffy tail with a hooked barb on the end bobbing up and down as it began eating.

As promised Julia then picked Tufts up in her arms and carried her out into the living room where there was enough space for her to waddle around, her little lilac-coloured nose getting stuck into everything as she sniffed and licked various things around the room while Julia practised on her guitar.  
“Watcha got there?” Julia asked, sitting on the floor with her legs crossed when her pet began making short snorting noises. “Oh, you found Rick’s plumbus.” she uttered, watching Tufts sniff the chumble sticking out of the back before leaving it alone to go look at something else. Strumming her guitar again the brunette began to hum. “Ohhh, honey, picture me upon your knee with tea for two, and two for tea; just me for you, and you for me aloooone.” Julia sang, while Tufts continued to push anything that was not too heavy around with her tiny, violet horns. “Nobody near us to see us or hear us, no friends or relations on weekend vacations. We won't have it known, dear, that we own a telephone, dear.” she continued.

All the while the small, six-legged deer had finally come full circle and was now at Julia’s legs, her cold, wet nose rubbing against the teen’s bare shin as she sniffed her.  
“Day will break and I’m gonna wake, and start to bake a sugar cake for you to take, for all the boys to see. We will raise a family, a boy for you, a girl for me. Can't you see how happy we will be?” Julia continued, putting her guitar to the side to pick up her deer and put her between her legs. For a good while Julia sat humming as she brushed Tufts’ fur, the small alien deer chirping and whistling as she lay her head on Julia’s calf. Hearing the rain beginning to come down heavy outside Julia looked up to see how bad it actually was.  
“Oh wow.” she uttered, the glass thick with water and creeping condensation.  
Stood in the kitchen Julia watched her dinner rotate on the hot-plate in the microwave, the clicking of Tufts’ six hooves drifting back and forth below her as the creature sniffed out its new surroundings.  
“You know, Tufts; I think I could get used to living on my own, it’s so quiet with no one around.” she told her pet, who just lifted its head to look up at her with big, corneal black eyes. “In fact, let’s do some therapeutic meditation after dinner.” she suggested, having not had a chance to really do anything like that without someone disturbing her. Namely Rick.

On the floor with her legs crossed in the living room, and her back to the garden, Julia kept her eyes closed, her hand gently stroking Tufts’ back as she lay snuggled up in the gap between her thighs and shins. Inhaling through her nose gently she breathed in the scent of frankincense, a deep, slow breath then drifting out from between her lips. In the background a bansuri played as the rain continued to come down upon the house, slowly she opened her eyes and began to watching the gentle, yet quick, smoke rising up from the top of the incense stick in front of her; swirling, spiralling, spinning, the smoke flowed in an elegant wispy formation towards the ceiling, vanishing into the shadows above them where the light from her phone’s home screen could not reach.  
On the wall the sound of ticking from the clock became white noise, the teen’s throat and nose becoming intoxicated by the unfamiliar smells. Between her legs Tufts had become so relaxed that, upon falling asleep, she had not curled up into her usual pillow shape. Finding herself begin to grow tired Julia began to fall asleep, her mind drifting off into another world to follow Tufts where she had gone.

Swirling and churning Julia came into existence, her eyes opening to look out across the landscapes below her; tall, expansive purple trees, rolling blue-corn hills and moss covered mountains stretched out as far as the eye could see, the sky a caramel orange and the two moons an eerie yet captivating grey. Beginning to traverse the treetops Julia reached out to touch the tips of the leaves as she past over, only to make them ripple; the entire landscape becoming a vast, exotic ocean. Drifting towards the surface Julia put her bare feet to the tops of the water, the surface warping, as though to keep them apart, under her weight until it held her completely.  
Above her the sky began to darken, the moons crossing over one another as they arched in opposite directions, the last inches of their tops casting small silver pools of light across the ripples of the water before vanishing completely, plunging her into momentary darkness until trees made of pure silver burst forth from the flecks of light that still remained on the water’s surface, reaching as high as the eye could see and farther.

Mesmerised Julia craned her head to look skywards, her head only lowering when a bell chimed in the distance, her eyes casting upon a purple light calling her deeper into the thicket. Everything around her was silent except for the crunch of branches under foot, her eyes fixated on the purple light. Breaking through the trees Julia came across a sundered stump, a ray of light fixated on it as a deer with a body much like a human’s perched and sat in the middle looking at her. This strange creature was lavender in colour, her torso covered in swirls of thick, dark-violet fur that matched the multitude of corkscrew locks which made up her mane. Cascading downwards her hair trailed along her back and then back out at her hips to become a long tail made of spirals and curls. Around her ankles sat whirls of fur that lacked the white flowers, much like her hair, that scattered her torso and tail, said flowers also sat in a row around her neck as three much larger, singular flowers.

Julia could not help but admire the long, straight, indigo horns on the top of her forehead, her vision lowering to the singular, vertical facing eye looking at her, never blinking, never moving, and then down towards the deep violet markings underneath her closed eyes. Slowly she stood up to show that she was significantly smaller than Julia, her hooves, and horns for that matter, much like that of a klipspringer.  
‘Well met, Julia.’ she greeted, her soothing voice echoing through Julia’s mind.  
“Did I accidentally reach enlightenment?” the brunette asked.  
‘Not quite. I have parted upon you a segment of my mind.’ she answered. ‘I am Calfuray, or ‘Tufts’ as you call me.’ Calfuray then introduced herself.  
“I might have left those incense sticks in my bedroom cupboard for too long.” Julia mused.  
‘I can assure you that this is no hallucination. Through means of meditation I have been given the opportunity to communicate with you.’ the bi-pedal deer uttered. ‘I wish to spirit-bond with you so that we may commune.’ she then requested.  
“You mean like a soul-bond? Aren’t those really… sacred to alien races?” Julia questioned, certain she had once heard of a Jerry from another dimension taking one for granted.  
‘Indeed, a soul-bond is sacred to many; however on my planet a spirit-bond is a fundamental part of our society. From birth we are embodied with the ability to attach ourselves to the minds of our parents and onto others.’ Calfuray explained. ‘We, unlike humans and many alien species, never evolved to have the same vocal range, thus we developed superior telekinesis to satisfy our needs.’ she added.

Trying to keep up with her Julia simply nodded, trying her best not to interrupt her in the midst of her explanation.  
‘Our societies refusal to become one with the larger known universe has led them to believe that we are nothing more than simple beasts of burden, and have since sold us as pets or served us as hors d’oeuvre in restaurants.’ she added.  
“Well, that certainly makes me feel bad for treating you like a pet.” Julia admitted, rubbing the back of her head.  
‘I feel no ill towards you. You treated me kindly.’ Calfuray responded, gaining a smile from Julia.  
“So, how do we spirit-bond exactly?” the teen finally asked.  
‘You must look into my third eye.’ she replied, to which the brunette began to look down at the eye in the centre of her forehead.

Staring into it Julia began to feel dizzy, the dark magenta iris burning into her in such a way that she could practically feel Calfuray reaching into the pit of her soul, the deer-esque woman reaching her arms out and drawing Julia into her, the teens nose and mouth burying into her untamed locks of hair. Quickly the deep scent of an unfamiliar flower overpowered her senses, her eyes slowly closing as she continued to breathe in the deep fragrance. Quietly Julia opened her eyes, her vision blurred by lilac fur as she lay with her face buried into Tufts, her long strands of fur tickling Julia’s nose.  
“Mmm...” Julia muled, curling further up around her soft, warm pet. “So comfy.” she whispered, gently glancing around the room to see that she was still home alone.  
Peeping out of her fur like a turtle in its shell Tufts looked at Julia, her big black eyes disappearing behind eyelids as she reached her head out further and began licking the brunette’s forehead.  
“Sooo cute.” she murmured, kissing her cold, wet nose gently in response. Rolling onto her back Julia began to stretch herself out, her arms extending out above her head while her legs went in the other direction, a euphoric sensation cascading throughout her body in such a way that it made her shudder. Easing her legs and arms back into a relaxed position Julia let out a huge yawn, which Tufts copied. “I don’t even want to move.” the teen groaned, surprised to find that she was yet to feel the effects of laying on a hard floor.

Some time later Julia had eventually decided to move everything back into her room to go to sleep in her own bed instead, and in the morning she was strutting around the kitchen table cleaning while Tufts weaved around the wooden legs to follow her.  
“I had a dream so big and loud, I jumped so high I touched the clouds. Wo-o-o-o-o-oh!” Julia sang as she pushed a chair out against the wall to climb up.  
“Wo-o-o-o-o-oh!” Tufts barked back, wagging her tail.  
“I stretched my hands out to the sky, we danced with monsters through the night. Wo-o-o-o-o-oh!” the brunette continued, pulling the curtains off of the plastic hooks to take them down.  
“Wo-o-o-o-o-oh!” her pet barked loudly to mimic her.  
“I'm never gonna look back, woah, never gonna give it up. No, please don't wake me now. This is gonna be the best day of my life. My li-i-i-i-i-ife!” Julia continued to sing loudly, hopping down to then pick up the curtains off of the floor and bundle them into the plastic washing basket nearby. “This is gonna be the best day of my life. My li-i-i-i-i-ife. I howled at the moon with friends  
and then the sun came crashing in. Wo-o-o-o-o-oh!” Julia continued, being followed by Tufts towards the garage to use the washing machine.  
“Wo-o-o-o-o-oh!” Tufts responded, her head held up as she marched behind her into the less than friendly looking garage.

In there Julia began stuffing things into the washing machine, her now empty washing basket sat over Tufts to keep her from getting into anything she should not have been playing with.  
“But all the possibilities, no limits just epiphanies. Wo-o-o-o-o-oh!” Julia sang, getting to her feet to put the washing powder and liquid into the slot in the corner.  
“Wo-o-o-o-o-oh!” her pet howled, shuffling around with the basket over her.  
“I'm never gonna look back, woah, never gonna give it up. No, just don't wake me now. This is gonna be the best day of my life. My li-i-i-i-i-ife. This is gonna be the best day of my life, my li-i-i-i-i-ife.” Julia continued, taking the basket off of Tufts to then pick her up and start to dance about on the spot. “I hear it calling outside my window, I feel it in my soul. The stars were burning so bright, the sun was out 'til midnight. I say we lose control!” she sang to her pet, rocking from side to side while her pet clicked and chirped excitedly. “This is gonna be the best day of my life, my li-i-i-i-i-ife!” Julia sang as she danced Tufts out of the garage and slammed the door shut behind herself.

Later into the afternoon Julia had left for work, her tired feet scrapping across the concrete as she made her way home that evening, her hair a tangled mess from the wind blowing it around wildly. Glad to finally be home the teen then frowned as she tried to get the key in the door, while Tufts barked and whistled from behind it.  
“Calm down, Tufts, it’s just me.” she greeted her, her pet jumping and bumbling around her feet the second she had opened the door wide enough for her to get out. “I told you to stay in my room.” she then tutted, heading to said bedroom to drop her small duffle-bag on the floor and kick her work shoes off in any direction they happened to swing.  
Once settled Julia then headed into the kitchen to make herself dinner, the silence of the house starting to get to her slightly.  
“Weird...” she mumbled, putting her fried vegetables onto a plate before bringing it through to the kitchen table. “I’d have thought someone would have come home by now.” she admitted, picking up the sour scream to start prepping her fajitas before she added the cooked chicken and assortment of veg’.

Full the brunette sat with her chin resting on the palm of her hand, while her elbow dug into the smooth surface of the dining-room table. With a piece of bell pepper pinched between her index finger and her thumb Julia let go of it off of the side of the chair, Tufts tiny body lifting upwards as she jumped up to snatch it mid-fall. Feeling her eyes beginning to grow heavy Julia let out a soft sigh as she stared at the garage door, guessing it was time to go to bed as she had highschool tomorrow.  
Sometime in the middle of the night Julia had been rudely awoken from her sleep by the sound of crashing and shouting, her brow furrowing as she slowly opened her eyes from beneath her thick, heated duvet.  
“Mmm.” she groaned, turning over to face the wall. A few minutes later she was startled awake by someone kicking her door open, her body flailing as she sat up, confused and bewildered, and looked towards Rick stood in the doorway, a large gun held in both his hands. “What?!” she bleated, clearly still half asleep. “What’s going on?” she then questioned.  
“Where’s Rick T-69b?” he demanded loudly.  
“… What?” the brunette asked, slumping her legs out from underneath the covers to put her feet on the hard, cold floor, still not entirely sure what was going on.  
“A-Are you deaf?” the cyan haired man questioned, slipping his index finger onto the trigger of his gun.

Looking at the time Julia rubbed her face and then stood up.  
“Rick, what’s going on?” she question, starting to feel more aware of her surroundings.  
“For-For fuck sake.” Rick stammered, grabbing her by the collar of her sleeping shirt to tug her out into the dining-room and then across the house into the living room. Protesting Julia pulled herself from his grip when she stopped and started slapping him weakly with both her hands.  
“Quit it, Rick.” she told him off, squinting her eyes under the bright artificial lights.  
“W-Who the fuck is that?” another Rick questioned, her hand fixing her purple bang as she took the time to turn around and look at all the Ricks surrounding her.  
“… Did you clone yourself again?” Julia asked, turning back to look at the original Rick that woke her up in the first place.  
“Where is Rick T-69b?” one of the other Ricks asked, who had decided to get comfortable on the sofa.  
“On an adventure, I assume...” the brunette replied, trying to do a quick head count.  
“And Summer and Beth?” he questioned.  
“Summer’s at a friends and Beth’s at a spa with dad.” she informed them.

Pulling a face the Rick seemed to stand up, fixing his hat a little as he came to loom over her. He must have been the head of this little operation.  
“And you are?” he enquired, quirking his monobrow a little.  
“Julia.” she stated simply, twiddling her toes together as the cold floor began to sap her body heat away.  
“Never heard of you.” he remarked in a rather crude manner, eyeing her up a bit more.  
“What do you want with Gramps?” she decided to enquire, rubbing the goosebumps on her forearm awkwardly.  
“He’s wanted by the Council of Ricks.” Rick informed her sternly, at least they were not the sort to keep her guessing anyway.  
“Did he do something stupid again?” Julia dryly questioned, her lips flattening.  
“Arguably.” he answered, taking a moment to see that this girl actually showed up in several different family photos.

Making them something to drink and eat, or rather being forced to, Julia set everything down on the living room coffee table.  
“You’re in an awful-lot of these family photos.” the commanding Rick acknowledged.  
“I guess.” she replied, not entirely interested in trying to make small talk with him. “Can I… go put some clothes on?” she then asked, tugging on the end of her loose fitting cotton shorts.  
“I guess.” he shrugged, motioning for one of the Morty’s to follow her. Just in case she tried to make a break for the garage. Getting changed Julia came back through, trying her best to ignore the Morty staring at her like he would a Jessica.  
Unable to go to school, as they would not let her leave, Julia sat on the single-seater Jerry normally used and stared at her phone, bored out of her mind. Receiving a text the teenager checked what Nancy had sent her.  
‘Where r u?’ she had apparently asked.  
‘Fam over, have 2 baby sit’ Julia answered, the corner of her lip crinkling up to the side.  
‘Justin was lukn 4 u’ Nancy informed her.  
‘Y?’ the brunette enquired.  
‘Skool prty fri’ she explained. ‘Asked Suzy instead. U should come anyway’ her friend answered, to which Julia let out an annoyed, extended groan. Just her rotten luck to have been forced to stay at home when her crush wanted to ask her to a dance.

By mid afternoon Julia heard the door unlock, her head lifting a little to look at Jerry when he came in and almost jumped out of skin when he saw multiple Ricks staring at him.  
“W-What’s… going on?” he asked hesitantly.  
“The Council of Ricks want Gramps for something.” the brunette informed him, her eyes glued to her phone.  
“Oh, oh my god.” Beth then gasped, wandering in with what was an annoyed expression. Julia was supposed to have been at school.  
“Where’s Rick?” Jerry then asked, looking down at Julia. “...Our Rick.” he corrected himself thereafter.  
“Adventure with Morty.” the brunette informed him.  
“Shouldn’t you be at school?” the blonde questioned, frowning at Julia once she was reminded of what she was annoyed about before.  
“They wouldn’t let me leave.” Julia grumbled.

With Jerry and Beth now at home the brunette was finally able to go to her room and relax, which consisted mostly of just laying on her back on top of her bed covers. Hearing the door open Julia tilted her head to the side, looking up at the commanding Rick from before. Clearly confused he was looking around her room, having expected to see the usual Rick bedroom lay out.  
“Where’s Rick’s stuff?” he questioned, not even seeing a poster or a wall of scattered post-it notes.  
“Jerry’s old study.” Julia replied casually, turning to another page in her magazine.  
“You live in here?” Rick asked, now standing in the centre of the room.  
“Gramps had a cat fight with me over it, but I won.” she replied, putting her magazine onto her face before letting her arm dangle off the side of the small bed.  
“Who are you?” he questioned, frowning as he turned his attention back to her.  
“Julia Smith.” she replied simply.  
“Smith…?” the cyan haired man asked, his monobrow furrowing.  
“Bastard child of Jerry, half-sister to Summer and Morty, no relation to Rick.” she went into better detail, twirling her index finger through the air as she spoke.

A few moments later Julia let out a protesting yelp when there was a sharp pain in her arm, her magazine being torn from her face as she sat up.  
“Ow! What the hell?!” she protested, glaring at the small cut on her arm and then up at Rick, who ignored her to play with a small device in his hand. “Ch-Checks out.” he uttered, putting the device away as he left her room to make a few calls.  
“Jack ass.” the brunette grumbled, feeling Tufts lick the blood from her arm as secretively as she could. Pouting Julia picked up her fluffy pillow deer and took her with her out of the room, apparently the Ricks and Mortys had spread out a little more now, taking up any available seat they could get. ‘Where is Rick...’ she quietly questioned, beginning to wonder if he was ever going to return.

Trying to finish her chores, in a vain attempt at getting back on Beth’s good side, Julia had gone into Rick’s garage to clean out the cruiser, which he had apparently left behind.  
“Ninety-nine bottles of booze in the cruise’, ninty-nine bottles of booze. Take one out and throw it out, ninety-eight bottles of booze in the cruise’.” the brunette murmured to herself, tossing a bottle behind herself into a large plastic tub with a loud smash.  
“W-What the fuck?” came the familiar voice of Rick, her lips flattening as she turned, half expecting it to be one of the annoying Ricks that currently inhabited the house. It was, however, her Rick. Quickly she dropped what she was doing and ran to the door, dragging Morty back before anyone could see them.  
“Geez, Julia, what the hell?” Morty questioned, looking both shocked and a bit annoyed.  
“Shhh!” she spat, peeking through the crack in the door carefully.

Explaining the situation to them quickly and quietly the brunette watched as Rick ran his fingers through his cyan hair and then went with Morty through into the living room, whatever they wanted was clearly not enough to make Rick run for it. In seconds the Ricks were all over them, but not in any sort of violent or aggressive manner.  
“About time.” the commanding Rick grunted, turning off his ear piece to give him his full attention.  
“Wh-What the fuck is this?” he questioned.  
“You, and your family, have been chosen to be a part of a select group of Smiths that will be transported to a new district on the Citadel.” he explained.  
“What?” Summer butted in, looking up from her phone, having only just gotten back from highschool to this mess.  
“Y-You can’t just move us.” Rick belched, his monobrow furrowing.  
“The alternative is to be irradiated.” he replied plainly, each and every Rick pulling out their guns and blocking any and all exits.

Nervous Morty murmured a small ‘oh geez’ while Rick weighed up his options, his eyes flicking from left to right as he slowly lifted his hands up.  
“A-Alright, there’s no need for the guns.” he grunted, his hands lowering as their guns lowered.  
“You’ll find that everything you need will be located in the district, you wont even notice a difference.” the commander assured them all.  
“What’re you doing with her?” Rick sneered, pointing his thumb in Julia’s direction crudely. Shortly after he stiffened when the other Rick put his arm over his shoulder and around his neck.  
“We’re currently making arrangements for her.” he stated confidently, leaning in. “We’re making sure you get your own bedroom.” he then whispered, poking him in the chest weakly. Hitching part of his monobrow Rick changed his tune ever so slightly, his own bedroom back? Not entirely sure what they were whispering about Julia gave them a scrutinising look when they turned back around, whatever they were up to she certainly did not like.

Not needing to pack up their things for the most part, as everything would be identical on the other side, the only person that had to collect their things was Julia, but when she finally came outside with a box in her arms she found that everyone had already left. All par one Rick.  
“That it?” Rick asked, looking past her shoulder into the empty room behind her.  
“I don’t really own that much.” she replied, following him through the green portal onto the other side. They were not kidding about everything being basically the same, as she was now currently standing on the driveway in front of the garage as if they had just gone outside. Heading inside Julia went to her original room, but when she pushed open the door she found Rick was in there already, his hands flattening out a poster he had just rearranged on the wall.  
“Oh...” she began, while he turned to look at her.  
“You’re in Jerry’s study now.” he informed her, to which she glowered at him. So that was what they were whispering about.

Being shoved outside, and the door slammed shut behind her, Julia grumbled as she begrudgingly went across the hall to Jerry’s study, but he was already in there fiddling with his work desk.  
“I… err...” Julia stammered, looking around.  
“Oh, hey.” her father greeted her, turning to see she looked a little lost and confused right now. “They put a bunk bed in the corner there for you.” he informed her, pointing to a dinky little bed not unlike her own, only smaller. “We’ll have to share the room, but you wont even know I’m here.” Jerry promised her, putting his hands on his hips as she went over to the bed and put her box on the cheap and thin mattress.  
“How does school work?” Julia questioned, watching a group of Morty’s wander past the window with mild confusion.  
“Here, they gave Summer and Morty this pamphlet.” he replied, holding out a piece of paper.

Scanning it over Julia began to wonder how well a school ran by Smiths would work.  
“So the teachers are other Ricks, Beths and Jerrys?” she questioned, to which he nodded.  
“Yep, sounds exciting.” he uttered, trying to sound encouraging.  
“I’m never going to find a boyfriend at this rate.” the brunette quietly sighed, making use of the small amount of storage space they had crammed into the corner around her bed to put away her things.  
Later on Julia had decided to have a look around outside with Tufts, making a quick mental note of their door number (which was their dimension) before going anywhere. It was an incredibly surreal experience to say the least, every single house looked identical, and on the lawn or through the windows she should see various Smiths doing basically the same activities. It was like someone had just put her on a conveyor belt that repeated itself endlessly, no matter how much she walked or how fast she ran.

Finding a park the brunette took a moment to try estimate how many Jerrys were walking Snuffles but decided she could not keep up with them and continued down the road. Finding a cafe Julia acknowledged that there were several different kinds of Smiths and Ricks here; from pretentious looking ones, to ones she could only assume were musicians and artists. Examining them, as they examined her, Julia noted that Rick actually really suited a barista outfit. Continuing on the brunette questioned if she would make any friends here, all the Mortys and Summers seemed to be grouping together rather quickly.  
Finding a smaller park with a lake Julia took a moment to set Tufts down and let her go to the toilet, the small deer coming out from behind a tree with a satisfied look on her face moments later.  
“Feeling better?” the brunette asked, kneeling down to pet and stroke her whilst she made chirping and whirling noises. “Aw, who’s a good girl, who’s a good girl?” Julia cooed, pushing her over onto her back to rub her belly.

Ruffling her fur until her wrist began to ache Julia sat down on the ground beside the lake, while Tufts clambered up onto her lap and curled up, her head resting on her chest.  
“It’s been a long day.” the brunette sighed, shoving her face into Tufts’ fur. Sitting there like that for quite some time Julia eventually decided she needed to head home, especially when it began to grow dark and the street lamps came on. Traipsing back in a rather lazy fashion Julia made sure she still had the spare house key in her coat pocket, her heard turning to look up and down the garden path once she was outside the front door. Unlocking it she headed inside, checking her surroundings one last time before she shut it over and locked it completely.  
Heading to her bedroom door the brunette paused, her hand ghosting over the door handle. Right. Yeah. She did not live in that room any more. Groaning she turned and headed towards Jerry’s study, inside her father was nowhere to be seen as she headed over to her bed to get ready to sleep. The house was quiet again, with everyone presumably out cold from what had been a pretty stressful day all round, and within the hour Julia fell asleep too.

In the morning Julia had been rudely awoken by Jerry, so much for being subtle, and by the mid-afternoon the entire house was basically shaking from some sort of experiment that Rick was working on. In the living room, trying to watch the television, Julia frowned as several explosions went off from underneath the house, while Rick would open his mouth and pretend that he was the one making those noises.  
“D-Damn, son, shouldn’t have those beans on toast.” he burped, thumping his chest with his fist.  
“Rick,” Julia stated, her features flattening. “there’s no point in pretending you’re making those noises. I can tell it’s that experiment of yours exploding.” the brunette huffed, turning to look at him.  
“What, Julia?” the cyan haired scientist asked, lifting his ass to the side slightly to the sound of yet another explosion.  
“You’ve been working on that thing since six this morning. Haven't you had enough fun sending fire hydrants all along the street hurtling into the air? Why can’t you quit now? While you’re alive.” Julia then requested, whilst Rick remained disinterested in what she had to say. Keeping his features flat he instead waited for yet another bomb to finish shaking the house before he let out a little, mildly pathetic, burp.

A couple of hours later the house had began creaking, to which Rick got up from the dinning room table and began to head towards his garage.  
“I’ll be right back.” he informed Beth and the others, whilst Julia’s eyes rolled as she waited for the noises to stop temporarily. Instead, however, another huge boom shook the foundations of the house much worse than any of the others previously. Shocked Julia ran to the front door and swung it open, her eyes first spotting the garage door now in the middle of the road, followed by black smoke billowing out from inside the garage itself. A few seconds later Rick came running out on fire, his white coat ablaze as he shouted and cursed.  
Watching him run around on the front lawn he eventually dropped onto his side and began rolling around and smacking himself until, finally, all the flames were out. Thereafter he lay on his back and, begrudgingly, tilted his head backwards to look at the brunette still stood in the doorway.  
“I’ve thought about what you said, Julia; and I’ve decided to quit.” he informed her, whilst she just gave him soft look and came over to help him up and take him back into the house.  
“What were you trying to make anyway?” she asked, though she assumed he would still refuse to tell her.

Before he could say anything to her, however, Beth had snatched him up and was now pandering to his every need, clearly concerned for his well being now that she could see the state he was in. Deciding to leave them to it Julia went back to eating her dinner before going to her bedroom to check on Tufts, who was currently cowering in a corner under the bed.  
“Tufts?” Julia asked quietly, looking around while wiggling a carrot around by its bushy green stalk. “Tuuuufts?” she questioned again, pulling up the bed covers to see her shivering between a couple boxes, her little beady eyes peering out through her inverted neck. “Hey turtle bread,” she began softly, showing her the vegetable. “come get your nooms.” she coaxed, whilst she slowly but surely crept forward.  
After a minute or so Tufts came out from beneath the bed, her teeth gnawing into the carrot as she lolled her ears about searching for danger.  
“I’d tell Rick not to be so loud, but I can’t let them know about you.” the brunette sighed, scratching the curve of Tufts’ lower jaw, just below the cheekbone. “Not that he’d listen.” she mused, picking Tufts up. Tufts merely chirped in response.

The next day was no better however, as Julia was startled awake by an explosion and then winded by Tufts when she jumped off of the floor onto her stomach with a loud bleat.  
“Uuuurgh.” she whined, looking down at the shuddering bulge hidden underneath her sleeping shirt.  
“Let’s go for a walk...” she murmured weakly, getting up to get dressed and find her white jacket with the black fur collar. Outside Julia made sure her guitar was strapped firmly around her before setting off with Tufts, the loud banging following her up the street as, presumably, several Ricks were attempting to wake up the neighbourhood.  
On a park bench Julia put her pet down on the ground and leant back onto the metal back, her eyes closing for a little while. It was so quiet here.  
“Now I'm thinking maybe I was stung...” Julia mumbled, strumming her guitar while Tufts sniffed up and down the pathway nearby. “I’ve felt my feet lift off the ground, while my heart was screaming at my bones ‘I need you closer’ as he’s in the middle of the street.” the brunette continued, not putting much thought into it. “Then I pretend he’s mine to keep. Cars are running fast on both sides of his head, his eyes say ‘closer, closer, closer…’.” she murmured, taking a moment to make sure Tufts was still in sight.

As usual her pet had not strayed far, her snorting and snuffling still audible from behind the park bench. Feeling her go around her legs Julia went back to strumming her guitar again.  
“I met him when the sun was down, the bar was closed; we both have had no sleep. My face beneath the street lamp, it reveals what it is lonely people seek. Closer, closer... closer, closer. And you’re close enough to lose. Close to the point where you know that your mind, it can not choose. Close enough to lose, close enough to lose... your heart.” Julia continued. “Now I'm thinking... maybe I was stoned. I felt my feet lift off the ground, while my heart was screaming at my bones ‘I need you closer… closer, closer’.” Julia hummed. “You met me when the sun was down, and the bar was closed. We both have had no sleep. My face beneath the street lamp, it reveals what it is lonely people seek. Closer, closer... closer, closer. Then you’re close enough to lose, close to the point where you know that your mind, it cannot choose. Close enough to lose, close enough to… lose your heart.” she concluded, jumping out of her skin when Tufts knocked a glass bottle over, sending several crashing to the ground. “Tufts!” she shouted, getting to her feet.

Cursing she tried to pluck her off of the ground before she could lick up the gin leaking out across the concrete, however by the time she had ran over to her pet she was already looking a little mortified by the taste.  
“No, bad deer!” she protested, picking her up. “I’ve told you not to lick weird things.” she huffed, whilst Tufts just gave her a slightly dopy look. “… Are you tipsy already?” she asked, pausing for a moment. “And I thought dad had a shitty tolerance.” she mumbled, her lips flattening. The next day, at the crack of dawn, Julia awoke with her forehead squished up against something icy. Confused she screwed up her face and then opened her eyes, her vision taking in the fast blur of houses as she travelled at a moderate speed.  
“Wha?” she questioned groggily, feeling her body jolt slightly when the car went over a speed bump.  
Cranking her head up she slowly realised that she was in the family car, with Summer at the other window and Morty and Rick in the middle. In the front Jerry was driving and Beth was looking at a map, constantly telling him where to turn next. No one replied to her confused mutter however, her one visible eye lolling about as she took in her surrounding for a little longer.  
“Why am I in the car?” she asked quietly, but everyone was too busy either shouting at Jerry or listening to music with their headphones in to answer.

Deciding to just sit back and listen instead Julia eventually saw a sign on a giant billboard advertising some sort of science convention.  
“Rick Con.” she read aloud, observing the copious amount of Ricks flooding the massive car park with their families in tow. Getting out of the car Julia stretched one arm behind her back as she followed them slowly, a few people giving her strange looks when they realised she was not like the others.  
“Two seconds Beth, need to uh… Get the tickets...” Rick informed her, shooing them towards the main building while stopping Jerry and Julia to take them with him.  
“This is going to be such a fun day out.” Jerry stated in an optimistic fashion, whereas Julia just watched as a few Ricks went into the building with their own Jerrys', while others exited without. Suspicious she narrowed her gaze.  
Having signed the legal documents Rick then turned and motioned for the two of them to go through a set of doors, followed closely by a friendly enough alien.  
“See you guys in seven hours.” he then called, darting off before they could say or do anything.  
“Wait, what?!” Jerry snapped, turning sharply to watch him give them the middle finger as the doors closed behind him.  
“We’ve been ditched.” the brunette surmised, not particularly expecting anything else from a Rick.

It was not an entire loss however, as apparently the Ricks had put on a Jerry convention to keep them entertained while the professionals did their own thing next door.  
“This isn’t so bad...” her father admitted, looking at a map of the attractions. “We can get ice cream if we do a full circle of the place.” he added, straightening up to then look to his left at the building. It was seven in the morning and there were Jerrys already eating ice cream. Giving them a flat look Julia began to head to the right with her father, the pair having a gander at all the inventions.  
“Some of these are so bad.” the brunette commented, pausing to look at one of the machines that caught Jerry’s eye.  
“Are you kidding me? Look at this, it’s a mechanical arm that shaves for you, and that one over there brushes and cuts your hair.” he gasped, clearly impressed.  
“That sounds… kinda dangerous?” she surmised, not entirely sure she could trust the machine not to cut her head off or scalp her.  
“No wonder all these inventions are so useful,” her father began, clearly not listening to her at all. “they’re designed by Jerrys for Jerrys.” he stated, putting his hands onto his hips. “Huh.” he hummed, clearly impressed and proud with himself.

Rolling her eyes Julia continued down the busy walkway, her bored expression scanning her surroundings until she spotted something she did actually like.  
“A hover board.” she gasped in unisons with Jerry, the pair of them looking at each other before they did a short dash over to it.  
“Oh my god, it actually works.” the brunette gasped, watching as a Jerry tried it out whilst being supervised by two others in lab coats.  
“I would definitely trade my car in to get to work on that.” her father admitted, the pair watching as the Jerry darted about until, unfortunately, it malfunctioned and he went flying around erratically until finally smacking into a wall.  
“Oh god.” Julia gasped, watching him then bounce backwards and fall onto the floor, which indented on impact and slowly rose back up to show that he was okay. Now confused the pair of them looked down at the floor, Julia being the one to start bouncing up and down to see that everything was springy. “They Jerry proofed the floor and the walls.” she commented, following her dad away from the hover board section before one of them malfunctioned right into them instead.

Further into the convention the pair had come out from behind a wall, with Jerry screaming and cowering when he looked up at something and got a fright.  
“What? What!” Julia shouted, confused. Turning she stilled and rolled her eyes up before then craning her head skywards. “… Rick-a-saurus Rex.” she gasped, examining the giant, drooling dinosaur staring back at them through thick fencing. “It’s in a cage, Dad.” she rolled her eyes, now calm.  
“Oh…” her father murmured, straightening up. “I knew that.” he then lied, letting out a weak laugh as he followed her to go closer, albeit nervously. “Hey, look; apparently they spliced the DNA of a Rick with a tyrannosaurus.” he read off the information board.  
“That doesn’t sound safe.” she admitted, frowning up at him as he turned his head to the side and lowered himself to be at eye level.  
“Why’s he so fluffy?” Jerry asked, pouting a little at the cyan feathers and tufts sticking out from between its scales.  
“They discovered dinosaurs have feathers, you didn’t see that study?” Julia questioned, poking her fingers through the fencing to touch its cheek delicately.  
“Don’t touch him.” Jerry told her off, however at this point Julia had her entire hand through the fence and was stroking his cheek.

All the while the dinosaur was staring directly at Jerry.  
“But he’s so cute.” she tutted, giving him a small scratch underneath the jawline.  
“Julia, get your hand out of there. He’d going to bite your hand off.” Jerry protested, turning away only to jump and turn around when Julia let out a pained ‘ahhh’. “Oh my god!” her father shrieked, seeing her hand was no longer in her sleeve. “I told you not to put your hand in there!” he protested, panicking now.  
“He ate my haaaand!” she cried, stumbling closer to him.  
“It’s okay, we’ll just find a doctor and-” Jerry stammered, looking around helplessly until Julia started laughing and pulled her hand out from her sleeve to smoosh his face slightly.  
“Got you!” she howled, while Jerry turned his face away slightly and squinted his expression away from her clammy palm.  
“Dammit, Julia!” he protested, whilst she just continued laughing.  
“That was too easy.” she chuckled, fixing her coat once she had settled down.  
“Now I kinda wish he ate your hand.” her father grumbled, looking over at the dinosaur to see that even he looked amused. Flattening his features Jerry began to drag Julia away, who shouted a goodbye to the dinosaur as they left.  
“Great, now I’ve even been mocked by a dinosaur Rick.” he grumbled, hoping the next thing they found would be more interesting. 

At the cafe in the mid afternoon the pair had been eating ice cream, while Jerry looked through a magazine at some of the smaller inventions they managed to miss.  
“Hey look, a condiments pen.” he uttered.  
“Why would you want to write in ketchup?” Julia asked, leaning over slightly to have a look.  
“You could make food art.” he answered, still reading the article.  
“Sounds pretty useless to me.” she continued, shifting back into her chair to sit up straight.  
“I might buy some of the stuff in here...” Jerry uttered with a bit of thought.  
“Mum’ll kill you if you come home with junk.” she warned him, getting to her feet. “I’m gonna go find the bathroom.” she then informed him, wandering off.  
“No she wont.” Jerry scoffed. “She’d love a scarf that changes colour depending on the mood.” he tried to reason, however empty space could not particularly argue back in the first place.

Wandering around in search of the bathroom Julia found that the toilets were all the way back at the dinosaur pen, her feet traipsing by the fencing as she made her way towards the girls bathroom. As she went she gave the fence a short glance to see if Rick was still there, however all she could see was a massive open hole. Not particularly taking much from this little fast she looked away again and went into the toilet. Doing her business she then left the stall, washed and dried her hands, and then left to go past the cage again. It was not until that point that she actually registered the open fence the second time, her eyes opening wider as she slowly turned to look at the cage.  
“Oh my god...” she gasped, the cage was torn open and the dinosaur was missing. Going over to one of the emergency boxes Julia was quick to call for the security.  
“Hello?” the Jerry on the other side asked lazily.  
“Hi, uh… The tyrannosaurus isn’t in its cage.” she informed him.  
“What?” he asked, turning a leaf in his magazine lazily.  
“The giant Rick-a-saurus Rex isn’t in its cage. There’s a giant hole in the fence.” she snapped quickly, glad he finally spat his drink and became more alert.

Being asked a million questions Julia stared at the emergency box, not noticing a shadow slowly coming up behind her.  
“We’ll be r-right there!” Jerry stammered. “Can you see him anywhere?” he then questioned, trying to keep her on the phone.  
“No.” she replied, the shadow now enveloping her. “Actually,” she began, slowly turning to look behind her. “I… found him.” she stated, her fringe being blown out of the way slightly to reveal her blind eye before it vanished back behind her purple fringe as he inhaled. “Heeey… youu.” she greeted the giant, slobbering dinosaur.

In the opposite building the Rick convention was operating without a hitch, with the family enjoying themselves thoroughly.  
“This has actually been a really pleasant day out.” Beth admitted, eating some rum and raisin ice cream.  
“D-Do they do this convention every year?” Morty asked Rick, who was also enjoying some of the best ice cream in the galaxy.  
“Y-Yeah, and b-best of all we can ditch Jerry in the other building every time.” their grandfather informed them, cheerier than usual. Or at least, he was cheery until he saw a group of armed Ricks running in a squad formation out the front doors.  
“Whoa… What do you think that’s about?” Summer asked, seeing another SWAT team go rushing by with much larger weapons.  
“Looks like they’re going to the Jerry convention.” Beth surmised, the group heading across the building to join the groups of people looking down over the banister and through the glass to the Jerry convention below.

Confused they tried to figure out what was going on, there were fires starting, stalls knocked over and Jerrys running wildly across the destroyed room trying to evacuate the building. Then, through the hustle and bustle of the crowds there was a loud roar, the loud crowds growing silent. For a few minutes there was no sound, with everyone’s ears pricked and at the ready. Then, there it was again, much louder than before, a massive gruff roar.  
“Woah...” a few Smiths gasped, while the Ricks slowly pulled their flasks out to swig a drink. The dinosaur had escaped.  
“Do you think Dad and Julia got out okay?” Summer questioned, watching as a few more Jerrys ran for their lives.  
Below the brunette’s chest was heaving, her feet skidding to a halt when she saw something falling from above. Jumping backwards Julia narrowly avoided a lazer that had been attached to the ceiling crashing to the floor, crushing the Jerrys ahead of her.  
“Fuck!” she cursed, backing off when it started to leak chemicals that began burning into the floor. Back tracking Julia looked around, hoping for a secondary exit, all she found, however, was that tyrannosaurus again.

Stood there, staring at each other, they had a mild stand-off, with the dinosaur staring at her for a moment before letting out a primitive roar. Thereafter it began to give chase, with Julia running as fast as she could. Jumping over somethings, and ducking underneath other things, the teen tried to keep as good a distance between them as possible. Being capable of bigger strides the Rick-a-saurus Rex would have caught up to her by now if it were not for the mess on the floor, which for now she was thankful for. Break out into a clearing Julia spotted the exit, a thankful look coming over her as she ran towards the doors. Her delight was shattered however when part of the walk-way above snapped from its wires and fell, blocking off the exit.  
“Come on!” she protested, skidding to a halt as the fires began to increase in size around the building. Slowing down the Rick-a-saurus Rex began to creep towards her, while she turned to frown at him.  
“Right.” she stated, her gaze narrowing.

Outside the Jerrys were scattered and lost, with no one quite sure who belonged to who without first checking their wrist tags, so Rick and the others had just been shouting for Julia instead, but the more they looked around the less they were certain she was even out here. Grouping back together some ten minutes later they compiled their findings.  
“I found Jerry.” Beth informed them dryly, dragging the cowering imbecile along.  
“Where’s Julia?” Rick questioned, eyeing him up and down. He certainly looked perfectly unharmed considering the current state of the building behind them. “I don’t know.” he answered in a nasally manner. “She went to the toilet when the chaos started.” the brunet added.  
Flinching the group ducked when there was an explosion, their heads turning to see the doors had come hurtling off of their hinges. Rattling and rolling they ground to a halt inches from the evacuation point, the smoke billowing out from where the blast had come from.  
“Something isn’t right.” Rick commented, watching several of the SWAT Ricks turning on their artificial eyes to look at something. Preparing their guns something large began to come out from the smoke, with someone smaller leading.

Wafting the smoke out from in front of her Julia pulled a face, her hand dropping the cannon that had been in her hand to the floor.  
“Don’t they look happy to see me.” she mocked, leading the tyrannosaurus outside with her.  
“Julia!” Beth waved, while several Ricks aimed their guns at her and the carnivorous beast lumbering behind her. Explaining how she had befriended the dinosaur Julia glanced at Rick as he tried to explain who the hell she was.  
“We know who she is.” someone stated, gaining their attention. Apparently it was the commander from before. “You’re here th-three days and already you’re causing trouble.” he muttered, watching as the tyrannosaurus was shrunk down so that it could be put into a prepared budgie cage.  
“I’m not the genius that put a nine-ton killing machine into a cage with no electrical fencing.” she replied sharply, looking down at the Rick-a-saurus Rex when he got between her feet to avoid being put in the cage.

Pouting Julia picked him up and patted him on the head.  
“He’s so cute though.” she cooed, massaging his monobrow. “Who’s-a-like-a-Sanchez?” she questioned, beginning to repeat the question until the commander took it off of her.  
“Ffffuuuuck me.” he belched. “Gi-gi-give me that! Way to Jerry up a tyrannosaurus rex.” he grumbled, putting it into the bird cage.  
“Hey!” Jerry whined aggressively, cowering seconds later when the commander turned to look at him with a dangerous expression. Leaving them to it the family left to go home, with the car ride being marginally quiet.  
“So, is there a convention next year?” Julia asked, while they just let out a unisons of groans.


End file.
